Discovery
by Miranda Crystal-Bearer
Summary: It doesn't take Dr. Tofu long to connect the dots about Ranma....


**A/N:** I don't own _Ranma 1/2_, but I do think Dr. Tofu's not as dense as he seems. Has anyone noticed that he looks a lot like Miroku from _Inu-Yasha_? Well, anyway, here's a little piece set in the very first volume of the manga, when Ranma first meets Dr. Tofu.

* * *

"Odd," Ranma Saotome mused as he poured the hot water over his head. He grimaced and fiddled with his suddenly too-tight belt. He always forgot about the changes in body size and weight. He stepped around the corner, shoes sloshing a little, and handed the kettle to Akane Tendo. "We're almost late, y'know."

Dr. Tofu looked at Ranma curiously. Ranma thought he saw a spark in those gentle eyes. "Hot water, hmm?" he asked.

"Yeah." Already warned by the way the man had concealed his presence, Ranma tread cautiously. There was more to this Dr. Tofu than there seemed. "Akane got it for me."

"I hope you don't mind," Akane chirped, anxious.

"Certainly not." Dr. Tofu's smile was pleasant. "You know, you'll catch cold if you stay damp like that."

Ranma snorted. "Nah. I never get sick."

"Ranma, you jerk," Akane scolded, swiging the kettle at him. "Be nicer to Dr. Tofu!"

"Geez, violent girl!" Ranma scrambled up the fence again, this time with his shoes.

"Ack, we're late!" Akane handed the kettle to Dr. Tofu. "Goodbye! I'll see you later!" she called, taking off at a dead run.

"See ya." Ranma scrambled atop the fence, took a single step to measure the balance he needed, then took off after Akane. Neither teenager looked back. If they had, they would have seen Dr. Tofu peer curiously at the kettle, then after them.

"Hot water, hmm?" he asked no-one in particular. "That girl could have been his twin. If..." and here he shifted Betty thoughtfully, "if it weren't for the ki. It must have been the same person. ...I think I will go look at my books. I recall something...some curse." Dr. Tofu nodded, and stepped into his clinic. "What was his name? Ranma. Akane called him that."

A few long searches and a few dead ends finally led him to a faint trace of a curse involving hot water and transformations, but it was not, as he'd orginally thought, a spell. He stared at the book thoughtfully. "Hmm. Training ground in China..." He went back to searching, eventually finding his answer in a thick, yellowing volume of ancient martial-arts trainings. "Jusenkyo, the cursed springs. A hundred springs, each with a tragic victim of drowning..." Dr. Tofu ran down the list of the curses. He paused. "Spring of Drowned Girl. Seeing as there is no Spring of Drowned Boy, I'd make a safe bet that this Ranma took a tumble into that."

"Dr. Tofu, you have a call from Mr. Tendo!" Maria, the secretary, said, poking her head into the room.

"Oh, that's good," Dr. Tofu replied. "I have a question to ask him." He went cheerfully to the phone, made arragements for the Tendo family's next appointment, and took a moment to ask his question. "I saw Akane this morning, with a boy I've never seen. Who was he?"

"Oh, you must have seen Ranma Saotome," Mr. Tendo replied. "He's Akane's fiancee."

"I had no idea she was engaged."

"It was an arrangement from birth. It's only recently Mr. Saotome and I could get the agreement cemented, as he has just come back from China."

"From China, you say? This Ranma looked a native to me."

"Oh, he is. They were training in China. Ranma is a very talented martial artist, you know. An excellent heir to the School of Anything-Goes. I was very pleased with the match."

Oh, I'm sure, thought Dr. Tofu. From what he had seen, Ranma was very talented indeed. And cursed. Dr. Tofu smiled a little. He was looking forward to getting better acquainted to Ranma Saotome. "He looked healthy enough to me."

"Good, good. Ah, where did you say you saw them, again?"

"Outside my clinic. For some reason, Akane had stopped by to ask for some hot water." Dr. Tofu smiled into the ominous puase. "But don't worry. They got to school on time, I'm sure. They certainly took off in a hurry, at any rate."

"That's good. Oh, I have a friend here, Ranma's father. He needs a job. You wouldn't know of any, would you?"

"Actually, I would. I need a handyman around for a few weeks. Maria, my secretary, is going back to the States to visit family next week. Would your Mr. Saotome mind such small jobs as could be found here?"

"Not at all! He'll be very helpful, I assure you. Oh, hang on." Mr. Tendo's voice sounded, slightly muffled. "What? Oh, a challenger." Clearer, once again, he said, "sorry, Dr. Tofu, but there's a challenger at the back gate. I've got to go."

"Certainly. Take care," Dr. Tofu replied. He hung up, and stared absently across the room, thinking. "Yes, I think things will liven up for a good while. Jusenkyo, eh?"

* * *

Junsenkyo Cursed Springs, I believe. Or something similiar. The secretary is my invention.


End file.
